why is the thrid time a charm?

Answer 1

As a proverb, "the third time's a charm" serves a very specific purpose -- boosting morale. If try #1 fails, we say "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." If try #2 also fails, we have "the third time's a charm" to fall back on -- the idea being that sometimes it takes *multiple* tries to get something to work.

If it *does* work, why, then we have our idea that "the third time's a charm" reinforced. If it doesn't....

Well, take heart. European-American civilization just happens to like threes, and we tend to group things into three whenever we can. In a folktale, for instance, if something has to be attempted a certain number of times before it succeeds, you can bet it will be three. This is strictly an arbitrary cultural thing -- the Navajo treat the number *four* in much the same way.

So if the third time doesn't go well after all, do listen to the Navajo and try yet again.

Answer 2

Back in the day(world war I) men fought in the trenches. Many of them smoked. At night ,when things were quiet, they would light up their cigs. If a sniper was watching and saw the glow from the match he could get a good sighting on a target by the time that one match got to the third cigarette. Bang! Your dead! So, in this case, the number 3 is bad luck.

Answer 3

One to totally screw it up
Two a good start but not perfected
Three a practiced hand

Three is a lucky number, three is a artistic number, three is a nice rounded number when it comes to wanting something grouped in a small amount without jumping all the way to 5 (which can be half when dealing in 10)

Answer 4

Because you learn from the experiences, and mistakes, of the first two. Building on that knowledge is what "charms" the third attempt into success, usually.

Answer 5

The letter 3 has always brought superstitious ideas to humankind. Take the trinity for example. It's a non-Biblical teaching that originated from false religious teachings.

Answer 6

in magic, repeating a spell three times signifies completion. maiden, mother, crone. thus the charm is complete.

Answer 7

I guess, the third time there's more enthusiasm, more success, everything works out better. Not sure why, but I hope to test it.

Answer 8

Is it a charm or third strike and you are out?

Answer 9

Because the first time is practice and the second try is bad luck.

Answer 10

Three tends to be the amount of trys it takes to get something right....don't know why though